Tag: Spinach

appetizers · Daily Thoughts · Holiday Fare · Vegetables

Stuffed Mushrooms

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These great little gems have now been placed in my “oh my gosh why haven’t I made these before? I only have maybe 20 years or so left to eat them” folder! Because we had some friends over last night for spaghetti & meatballs, I started thinking about the left over cornbread dressing from Thursday evening when I made stuffed zucchini. They were so good I had the leftovers today for lunch. They were easy, quick and will be a favorite for any fall/winter dinners that we have.

12 large white mushrooms, cleaned and stems taken out and chopped very fine (the stems, not the mushrooms)
1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained very well. I just continued to squeeze the thawed spinach until I couldn’t get anymore moisture to squeeze out.
1 box of sage or herb Stovetop ( I can’t remember what the box said now) cornbread dressing, made according to directions.
1 stick unsalted butter
1 tables Worcestershire
2 tables red wine vinegar
1/2 teas onion powder
Black Pepper to your liking
Parmesan cheese for topping the mushrooms.

Prepare a baking dish by spraying with Pam, big enough for the mushrooms to fit.
Melt about 2 tablespoons of the unsalted butter in a medium frying pan. Add the finely chopped mushroom stems and sauce until they are cooked. About 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle the onion powder,and pepper to your liking.
Add as much of the drained spinach as you like. (I used about 2/3 cup.) Stir until well mixed. Add about 1 cup of the corn bread dressing to this mixture. Stir until well combined.
Place about a tablespoon of this mixture into each hollow mushroom cap and then place mushroom in baking dish.
Melt the rest of the butter in a microwave safe container. When butter is melted, add the Worcestershire sauce and the red wine vinegar. Pour over the tops and around the mushrooms. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the tops of the mushrooms and bake in preheated 350 over for about 10-15 minutes or until stuffing is bubbly and mushrooms are tender. d
*Depending on the size of the mushrooms, you might not use all of the stuffing mixture. I had some left over and just spooned it around the mushrooms in the dish so I could eat it all….it’s that good.

Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Sausage,Spinach & Sweet Potato Soup

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IT is a beautiful day here in Arizona and we are preparing to leave for a party where there will be a tremendous amount of food to consume during Super Bowl. To allow our clothes to be a little loose so we won’t have to unzip our pants during the party, we ate soup for several dinners this week, hoping to loose a pound of two. This was one of the soups which I had found in a Taste of Home magazine and decided to try. I can testify that this recipe will stay in my stack of “favs” for a long time. Not only was it simple, but it was delicious.

Because we live in an area which does not have an immediately supply of black eye peas, I substituted Am’s Organic Lentil Vegetable soup. Before you get excited and think, “oh my gosh, she has finally done it, she has realized that if she wants to live past 70, she had better get with the program and go organic and quit having chocolate cream pie for dessert every night.” No, it was just the only bean soup I could find on the shelf that wasn’t black beans, pork and bean or pinto bean soup. So don’t get excited and start sending me packets of organic veggies to plant. Just not going to happen besides, I already have my chocolate cream pie piled high with whipped cream ready for dessert tonight.

Ingredients:

2 links of sweet Italian sausage, taken out of casing

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1 medium sweet onion, diced

1/2 medium green or red bell pepper, seeded

1 small can of tomato sauce or the regular size can of diced tomatoes

1 can (15 1/2 oz) black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained (( substitute Amy’s and did not drain them, but used the whole can, juice and all)

2 cans reduced sodium beef broth (here once again, I used 2 beef bouillon cubes and 2 cups water because I didn’t have any beef broth in the house)

2 cups chopped fresh spinach

1/2 package cheese tortellini

Garlic cloves, salt, pepper, and a about 1 teas Italian Seasoning to taste.

Add the Italian sausage to a big Dutch oven which has been sprayed with Pam and crumble and cook until no longer pink. Add the rest of the ingredients except the spinach. I added more water while soup was cooking to give it more broth. Cook for about 2-3 hours over low heat until sweet potato and other vegetables are tender. The last 30 minutes of cooking, add the chopped spinach and the cheese tortellini . Cover and cook until spinach is wilted and tender and tortellini is done ( it floats when it is done)

Serve with hot crust Italian garlic bread.